Silver & Gold || Pietro Maximoff

Chapter 10

May 6, 2015

05:00

U-Gin Genetics Research Lab, Seoul

"What is going on with you?"

My head snapped to my right where Wanda was examining me with skepticism. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Wanda's eyes narrowed. Suddenly her creased forehead relaxed as her eyebrows raised in surprise. I muttered a curse under my breath as I knew she looked through my thoughts.

"Pietro," Wanda warned, her voice low as she whispered to me.

We were currently in one of the lab rooms at a research facility where a woman named Helen Cho worked. According to Ultron, she held the final piece to complete his plan. The thought terrified me and I had been practically shaking with anxiety. The words of the Phantom lingered in my ears as I could hear her telling me Ultron wanted to see the world end. Not panicking seemed impossible as we waited for Helen Cho to get here.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," I looked down at her with a glare, but it quickly disappeared as I noticed her worry. I could never be mad at Wanda for long. I knew she was just trying to look out for me. I would do the same for her.

"I wish you would talk to me so I didn't have to. Normally you never stop talking. That's how I know something's really wrong," Wanda countered. I did my best to suppress a laugh.

"You can't seriously trust what the Phantom told you," Wanda went on. I could sense she was still prodding my mind to get the entirety of our interaction. I normally didn't care if Wanda searched my mind, but for some reason, I wanted to keep what the Phantom and I had together private. My own.

"Stop it," I told her again, and this time she backed off.

"Sorry," Wanda apologized.

"It's fine," I softened my voice. "Just let me explain instead of you jumping to conclusions, okay?"

Wanda nodded and I took a deep breath. Ultron was currently in the lab waiting near the entrance for Dr. Cho to arrive. Wanda and I stood behind glass doors in an adjacent room, so I made sure to keep my voice low.

"I don't know what it is about her, but for some reason, I trust what the Phantom told me," I began, "She doesn't seem malicious or violent like the other Avengers. Every time we've crossed paths I saw her actively avoiding the fight. I don't know why she is part of the team and works with Stark, but I don't believe she is like him at all."

"She may be manipulating you," Wanda remarked.

"What? Like you?" I asked, referring to her powers.

"No, but she's probably been trained to interrogate and manipulate others for information. You can't know if she's being sincere," Wanda explained.

I thought about this for a second. Indeed, a superhero on the Avengers would probably be exceptionally trained in tactics such as manipulation. But still, it didn't feel like that to me. Or the Phantom's just really good at her job. Which is also probably true.

"I can't explain it, Wanda, but my gut is telling me she's being genuine. It seemed too real and personal to be made up. And maybe she is just really good at what she does, but she is young like us and I felt like she truly wants to help us out."

Wanda rolled her eyes as she muttered something under her breath. "Pietro, please tell me you're not seriously considering dropping everything we're doing to get back at Stark because you have a crush on his teammate."

"Wha-, you... What are you talking about?" I protested as I was caught off guard by the accusation. "You think I'd throw everything away purely because I thought someone was cute?

"Wanda, don't tell me that you're not worried about what Ultron has planned. He still hasn't told us everything yet. You can't get into his mind to find out. We're blind here. He could easily be using us to do something far worse than just get back at Stark. You have to admit he seems crazy," I tried to talk some sense into Wanda.

Wanda sighed as she started flexing her fingers like she normally did when she was deep in thought.

"He hates Stark as much as us. Why would that give him any reason to do any other damage outside of the Avengers?"

"Because he's a robot, Wanda. He doesn't have morals or a sense of self. He was made 5 days ago and has serious daddy issues. He chopped off a guy's arm when he was compared to Stark. It's all starting to sound like a big red flag to me. I think he'd burn down the world to ruin everything Stark has created and I don't need one of Stark's teammates to help me see that."

Wanda looked like her mind was at war with itself and I understood that feeling. She was going through exactly what I went through when I had this conversation with the Phantom. I went up to Wanda and mimicked the way the Phantom had reassuringly held my hands. Her touch had helped me focus on the moment and eased the confusion that I was facing, realizing someone was trying to help me.

Wanda relaxed at the touch and I pulled her into a hug for a few seconds.

"But we've come so far. This is the only chance we're going to get," Wanda took a shaky breath, the hurt and anger evident in her voice. The thought of Stark getting away with what he did to us didn't sit well with me either, but there had to be better ways to deal with him.

"I know," I nodded as I ran a hand through her hair to soothe her. "But maybe our obsession with retribution against Stark has only made us suffer more. We joined a terrorist group and now a killer robot, Wanda. We may have taken this too far."

It seemed like realization hit Wanda like a truck. She pulled away and looked at me with a new expression. Regret.

"What are we doing? What are we going to do?" Wanda asked me.

I wish I knew the answers so I could tell her and take away all the worry she was experiencing. Unfortunately, I had no idea what we were supposed to do. How could we just leave Ultron? How could we help the Avengers stop him? How could I get into contact with the Phantom for her help? Would she even help us or was Wanda right and she was manipulating me?

"I don't know," I confessed. "We'll figure something out. We always do. We just have to wait for our chance to get out."

Wanda nodded and I watched as she buried her emotions away and put on the strong front she always paraded around. "We'll figure it out," Wanda echoed in confirmation.

She took a deep breath and walked towards the door back into the lab. She stopped and turned around right before reaching out for the handle.

"Don't think I don't know you have a crush on the Phantom," Wanda added. "I don't need to read your mind to realize that you've been so preoccupied by your daydreams because they're about her."

I opened my mouth to rebut the claim, but instead, a small chuckle came out. There was no point in lying to Wanda. She could call me out for my bullshit just by looking at me and if that wasn't enough she clearly wouldn't hesitate to look through my mind.

"She has pretty eyes," I shrugged with a playful smirk, "and she can really pull off a super-suit."

Wanda muttered something about foolish brothers in Sokovian as she walked out of the room smiling. I followed in suit and had a hard time containing my smile as I thought about the golden glow of the Phantom's eyes after she teased me in the Sokovian woods. God knows what I would do to get that look again.